He's a former Bayern Munich midfielder who helped Joachim Löw guide Germany to 2014 FIFA World Cup glory, but what else is there to know about the man Bayern have called upon to step in for the departed Niko Kovac?

We train the spotlight on the 54-year-old who will take charge of Bayern against Olympiacos and Borussia Dortmund...

1) Familiar face at Bayern

Born in the picturesque town of Heidelberg in 1965, Hans-Dieter Flick, to give him his full name, made his breakthrough at Sandhausen in the lower leagues of German football between 1982 and 1985.

He was spotted by Bayern Munich at the age of 20 and spent five years with the Reds, making 137 competitive outings for the club and winning four Bundesliga titles as well as the 1986 DFB Cup by the time he departed in 1990. The attacking midfielder moved on to Cologne, but after struggling with serious injuries, he played his last Bundesliga game in September 1992 before deciding to hang up his boots for good the following year at the age of 28.

Flick is already familiar with the workings at Säbener Straße, having played for Bayern for five years in the 1980s. - 1990 Getty Images

2) Bank clerk instead of VfB Stuttgart

Flick's career could easily have taken a very different course, however. At the age of 18 he was part-way through an apprenticeship to be a bank clerk when he received – and turned down - an offer to play for VfB Stuttgart, who went on to win the 1983/84 Bundesliga title.

"I wanted to finish my training at the bank," he told Rund magazine in January 2014. "But VfB said that if I did that, I'd have to play for the reserve team and I didn't want to do that. I just wanted something to fall back on because I didn't know how long I'd be able to play football for."

3) Move into management

Thinking ahead is a trait that has remained with Flick and he made sure to begin his coaching badges in good time, eventually receiving his professional license in 2003 after finishing joint-top of his class, alongside former Hamburg, Borussia Dortmund and Hannover boss Thomas Doll.

After several years on the touchline at his local amateur side in Bammental, he was appointed as Hoffenheim head coach in 2000 and helped drive the club's development over the next five years, earning promotion from the fourth to the third division and paving the way for Ralf Rangnick to take the side up to Bundesliga 2 in 2007. Flick then had a brief spell on the coaching staff at Red Bull Salzburg under Giovanni Trapattoni, before receiving a life-changing call…

Watch: Flick's best Bundesliga goal (for Cologne)

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4) World Cup winner

On 23 August 2006, just a month after Joachim Löw had been installed as Germany head coach following Jürgen Klinsmann's resignation, Flick was appointed as Löw's assistant. In a stroke of fascinating coincidence, Löw's brother Markus had been the player signed by Sandhausen to replace Flick in 1985.

It was the first time in history that neither the Germany head coach nor his assistant had ever played for the country at the highest level (Flick made two appearances for the U18s), but that was no hindrance to the duo taking the team to the summit of the global game. After finishing as runners-up at UEFA Euro 2008 and in third place at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Die Mannschaft conquered all comers at Brazil 2014 to put a fourth star on Germany's shirts.

Germany general manager Oliver Bierhoff, goalkeeping coach Andreas Köpke, head coach Joachim Löw and Flick (from left) celebrate their 2014 World Cup triumph after touching down on German soil again. - imago/Laci Perenyi

5) Hometown honours

As a result, Flick was given the freedom of Bammental in November 2015, the small town just outside Heidelberg where he lives with his wife, Silke. He is the youngest ever recipient of the award in the town, where he also runs a sports shop. Since stepping down as Löw's assistant following the World Cup triumph, he took up a post as sporting director at the German Football Association (DFB) in September 2014, a role he held until January 2017.

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